Former England cricketer Chris Lewis and his accomplice Chad Kirnon have been jailed for 13 years each after being found guilty of smuggling cocaine at Croydon Crown Court.
Both Lewis, of Brent, north west London, and Kirnon, of Islington, north London, denied knowingly bringing drugs into the country.
Lewis, 41, hid the drug in liquid form in tins of fruit and vegetable juice stashed in his kit bag but he was stopped by Customs officers at Gatwick Airport following a holiday in St Lucia.
Kirnon, 27, was also found with three tins of dissolved cocaine in his luggage.
The court heard that the two men, who claimed to be travelling alone, were picked up independently when they arrived at Gatwick just after 5am on December 8, last year.
Lewis, who said he had been in St Lucia visiting friends and family, was searched and customs officers seized five tins of juice stashed inside his Puma cricket bag.
These were found to contain a brown liquid which smelled of chemicals and turned out to 100% pure cocaine. Customs officers also found traces of cannabis residue in Lewis's luggage.
When questioned at Gatwick, the former England player said he packed the luggage himself and was not carrying anything for anyone else.
Kirnon was stopped 10 minutes later and three tins of fruit juice containing the same liquid cocaine were seized. When questioned, Kirnon said he had no idea the tins contained drugs and he said the juice was a gift for his mother.
As the sentence was passed, friends and family in the courtroom cried out in shock. Relatives wept as Judge Nicholas Ainley told the defendants they were motivated by greed and would be handed the same prison sentence.
